


End of Day Quiet

by swiftishere



Series: MSA AU Bin [3]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, It's just pining, M/M, Pining, Spaceship Races, bug me for ch2 if you wanna see her, no racing actually happens i'm very sorry, oh yeah, vivi gets mentioned but doesn't make an actual appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26695435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere
Summary: Arthur and Lewis both work on a "groundship track," a modification on old Earth racing tracks fitted for the nimble groundships used as transportation today.They don't get along particularly well, and Lewis wishes he could change that.
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur/Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Series: MSA AU Bin [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942603
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	End of Day Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> [this one has ART](https://nemesis-is-my-middle-name.tumblr.com/post/615228603060371456/nemesis-is-my-middle-name-some-art-to-go-along)

It was a relief to be able to pull off the bandanna serving as a mask, as Lewis came in from the not-yet-settled dust of the racetrack. He could still hear the thrumming of the groundships as they flew around the small path, and could swear he still had afterimages of their flashing blue undercarriages. 

He didn't much like races. Not watching them, not hearing them. Thankfully nobody got _too_ hurt on this one, but his job meant he'd seen plenty of bad accidents in the few years he'd been working at the track, and that just fed the small voice in the back of his mind that always insisted _it's just a matter of time_. 

There he went again. He shook his head to dispel the thought, hanging up his coat and bandanna on hooks and pressing a button to open the other door of the sort-of-airlock type structure that served as the entrance to the main building. 

Aside from a casual "hey, Arthur," for which he got little more than a disinterested hum, he ignored the other occupant of the small work room. He quietly took up his usual position, spreading the contents of his medkit out on the table so he could refill it before turning in for the night.

"Look at this. Do you see how low on bandages I am?" He didn't pay much mind to Arthur – he barely seemed to notice when he talked to him anyway. And if he minded his habit of venting into thin air about his day, he'd never mentioned it. "People keep getting hit in the shoulders because apparently safety gear means _nothing_ and they're blasting around the track at a million miles an hour with open roofs, and then _I'm_ the one having to patch them up. It's half the racers at this point! I should start charging them for the supplies!" He kicked one of the drawers to get it to pop out, revealing its stash of clean white bandages. "Maybe then they'd actually take their safety seriously."

At least he could actually see what he was doing. When he first got this job, the common room had been a lot less well built; the only source of light were the soft blue glow of recycled groundship parts, the drawers stuck constantly and were a pain to go through, and there hadn't even been proper shelving on the walls. He'd had a lot more to complain about – but then all the small annoyances had been silently fixed over the years. Which he could be weirded out by, but he had decided to just be grateful someone was listening. 

"I guess at least I get to go to bed after this, huh?" He didn't look at the linen wraps as he put them into their designated spot, instead glancing up at his silent companion. "You've probably still got a ton of work to do. Plenty of hard races today, the 'ships are probably all beat up." He leaned slightly over, trying to see what he was doing – some unidentifiable glowing piece of machinery was sitting out on the table in front of him, and he seemed to be working on it, but Lewis would be damned if he could identify what it was. "What's that you're working on now, anyway?" 

The only response he got was the continual soft _click-click-click_ as Arthur went through the motions of... whatever it was he was doing. The sounds of him repairing something was comforting white noise most of the time, even if his movements did get eerily robotic when he was working. Those were the benefits of doing something a hundred times – he probably looked about the same way when he was bandaging people up. 

The difference was that _his_ job got boring real fast, whereas he could watch Arthur work _all day_. 

His expression was almost singularly focused, eyes pinned to the machinery in front of him. Slender hands practically danced across the table, somehow finding every part he needed without him ever needing to look up. And then there were the moments where he ran into a stubborn screw or jammed part and had to strain to get it unstuck, and he leaned in and his brow furrowed and his shoulders went up... 

Some cover snapped into place and then Arthur sat back, surveying his work. Seemingly satisfied it was fixed, he then picked it up and stood, and Lewis quickly looked away before he could catch him staring. 

* * *

Not bothering to look up, Arthur silently pointed to an already-made mug of coffee on the counter next to him. Recognizing the vague motion, Lewis picked it up and took a long sip. 

"Thanks." 

"Mm." 

He'd been surprised, the first time Arthur had fixed his coffee for him. He was still new, and they'd hardly spoken, and Lewis was still in the stage where he was under the impression that would change. The coffee had only strengthened that belief, when he walked into the kitchen to discover it, and he'd been confused by it for a while. Arthur remained the same as ever, impervious to his attempts at conversation, but now with the addition of silently making him coffee in the mornings. 

That was the problem, he reflected. Arthur was _nice_. He may have disliked him for some inscrutable reason, but he still took the time to do little things like that. Making coffee, restocking him on supplies when he ran short, bringing him back food when he went out for it. He was the sort of person that made Lewis want to get to know him better, if only to know how to properly repay him for it. And then he made that impossible. 

Lewis had long since accepted that this crush was stupid and pointless, given that Arthur wanted nothing to do with him. But it was also _stubborn_. 

Lost in thought, he barely noticed when Arthur slid into the chair across from him. 

"T-talked to Vivi a- again?" 

He looked up in surprise. Was that question... directed at him...? "Uh. Yeah, sort of." 

Arthur only nodded, looking down at the papers in front of him. "Y-you should... t-take her somewhere in- in the- in the city." 

"...what?" 

"I just mean-" he tapped the table, "-y-you obviously want- want to sp-spend some time with her. Th- th- uh, here isn't ex-exactly a great place f-for that." 

"Oh. ...We... we're just friends." 

"I _know_!" He looked up for a brief moment, his expression vaguely... irritated? ...and then just as quickly looked back down at the table again. "You- you could still t-take her out. Sh-she'd appre- ap- appreciated it too. N-not a lot of opportunities for her- for her to g-get out." 

That actually wasn't a bad idea. And he _would_ really like to hang out with Vivi more. She was new here, but she seemed really fun and it would be nice to have a better friend around here. And then maybe he could stop bugging Arthur so much with his constant chattering, if he had someone else to talk to. Was _that_ why he was suggesting this all of a sudden? "Yeah, maybe. Uh, thanks for the idea." He couldn't resist a slight poke to follow that up, though. "The social advice. Totally unrelated, but when was the last time you left this building...?" 

Arthur huffed, and he genuinely couldn't tell if that was annoyed or amused. Whatever it was, he got up from the table, collecting his folder and mug. 

Lewis half turned around to call something after him as he left. "You know, if taking someone for a day trip is such a good way to get to know them... by your own logic- maybe I should take you out for one!" 

He practically locked up – it was clearly visible even from behind. 

"I- I th-think you know e- enough about me," he responded. 

Yeah, there it was. He knew the sudden burst of friendliness was too good to last. 


End file.
